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There appears to be bipartisan support in Congress to alter the Renewable Fuel Standard, writes the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal. A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House of Representatives this month proposing to cap ethanol content in U.S. gasoline at 10%, and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources will examine whether the RFS needs to be altered, said Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore. However, the members of the editorial board wrote that they are "students" of Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen, who has criticized the logic behind the House bill.

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The oil-industry-backed campaign to roll back the Renewable Fuel Standard threatens a policy that has proved to be good for the economy, energy security, public health and the environment, writes Michael Thede, a farmer and a former chairman of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, in a letter to the editor. "Nebraska leaders should be encouraged to take a strong position in support of the Renewable Fuel Standard, which provides Americans with a domestic fuel that is clean, renewable and supports millions of American families," Thede writes.

The oil industry wants to strengthen its control over U.S. fuel supply by getting the Renewable Fuel Standard lifted, writes Michigan State University professor Bruce Dale. Increasing the supply of domestically produced ethanol has lowered the price of gasoline, resulted in fewer carbon emissions and eased "the stranglehold petroleum has on our country's economy," he writes. "In short, renewable fuel is here and it's working. That fact is why the oil industry's efforts to stop renewable fuels are so desperate and disconnected from reality," Dale writes.

The fact that the oil industry is spending a lot of money to overturn the Renewable Fuel Standard means it is working as intended, said Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council, at an advanced-biofuels summit. Attempts to undo the RFS are unlikely to succeed because the standard has strong bipartisan support, Coleman said. "You've got Republicans and Democrats who see this thing work, create jobs ... just shy of 400,000 ... and it's just hard to change," he said.

The oil industry's continuing refusal to accept the move to E15 and higher blends makes it the only stakeholder to "ignore the market signal" of the Renewable Fuel Standard, writes Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. "From the beginning, oil companies refused to make the modest infrastructure investments necessary to provide market access for E85 and they have steadfastly opposed every effort to commercialize E15," Dinneen points out. This kind of behavior should not be rewarded and Congress should "consider the consequences of changing the rules in the middle of the game" he writes.

The Renewable Fuel Standard should be repealed because of its effects on the corn market, which ripple across the economy, writes Robert Bradley, CEO of the Institute for Energy Research. "By 2015, 15 billion gallons must be incorporated into the nation's gasoline supply, representing roughly 10 percent of the fuel blend. That in itself poses a significant threat to the U.S. economy by further spiking the prices of corn and gas, commodities crucial to almost every individual in the country," he writes. He argues that the coming costs of the RFS will hurt consumers.